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The Churyumov – Gerasimenko space rock, nicknamed 67P, contained not only water and carbon gas but also oxygen
The surprising discovery was made by the on – board instrumentation. edge of the Rosetta spacecraft of the European Space Agency. Molecular oxygen is an essential element of life on Earth and is metabolized by breathing organisms like animals and humans.
The compound is created by photosynthetic plants when two oxygen atoms are bonded together.
detected around the frozen moon of Jupiter Europa but scientists never expected to find one on a comet.
Oxygen is not evidence of extraterrestrial life outside the Earth but could be a "prime" relic from the early days of the solar system.
Rosetta scientists initially proposed that oxygen be stored in the nucleus of the comet from the moment the solar system was born 4.6 billion years ago.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have suggested a different source for oxygen.
Yunxi Yao and Konstantinos Giapis discovered a way to create the oxygen compound using charged molecules or ions.
The orbit of the comet pbades close enough to the sun, the intense heat of the burning star melts the ice on the surface of the 67P
The melting ice coalesces into a gaseous atmosphere known as the name of coma. Rosetta scientists have now revisited 67P discoveries in the light of the new theory of ions
In a research paper published this week in Nature Communications, scientists challenged the proposed theory
. Their study entitled "On the Origin of Molecular Oxygen in Cometary Comets" argued that the mechanisms involved are not sufficient to account for the amount of oxygen present. 659002] The paper claimed there are simply not enough charged in comet coma required to trigger the necessary processes.
Lead author Kevin Heritier, Imperial College London, said: "The first detection of molecular oxygen in 67P coma was very surprising and exciting.
" We tested the new theory of surface molecular oxygen production using observations of energetic ions, particles that trigger surface processes that could lead to the production of molecular oxygen.
] Amount of energetic ions present could not produce enough molecular oxygen to explain the amount of molecular oxygen observed in coma. "
The team remains convinced that their primary theory of oxygen is the most compatible measures taken by Rosetta.
Comet 67P is a space rock of the Jupiter family with an orbital period of 39, about 6.45 years, barbed in space at 84,000 mph.
T The comet measures about 2.7 by 2.5 miles and was discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomers Klim Ivanovych Churyumov and Svetlana Ivanovna Gerasimenko [19659020]
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